So I was going to title this post “The Blog War Is Over” and the first line was going to be “Team Island and Team Mainland Unite!” However, Katie pulled a fast one by posting while I was diligently taking notes during our joint Team Mainland-Team Island meeting (What a low blow). So I suppose the war rages on (even though Katie already appointed herself the winner of the feud). So here it is folks. My counterattack:

Elvin, a city councilman, sent one of his minions (whose name I didn’t catch) to pick us up at 9 am from the hotel. Elvin is normally late so Professor Selby and I weren’t quite ready when the truck arrived for us. Sorry minion! We drove to the city hall where we traded the minion for his leader. After we made the swap, Elvin took us to a hardware store to pick up some wire, pliers, a posthole digger, staples and leather gloves to fix the fence that borders the Luis Garcia school. The final destination was Luis Garcia, but we had to make a few stops first.

First we visited one site just off of the main highway where the municipality is working to build a fire station. We took a few pictures of the partial structure they’ve built so far and listened to Elvin’s explanation of where the water tank, parking garage, etc. would go. I took a few pictures of the site. Then, as we were leaving, Professor Selby asked me if I had taken any pictures of the cows across the street. Apparently, the professor’s mom would have deemed them “nice cows.” Sorry The Professor’s Mom. I’m the reason your daughter will come home without a single good picture of a “nice cow.”

Next we visited El Catalan, where Elvin lives. He took us to the road that runs alongside the city’s sewage system. For the next 20 minutes I embraced Professor Selby’s fascination with sewage and translated her questions. It wasn’t unbearable though. We met a nice horse along that road. He was tied up to a bush and was quite friendly (we assume he’s quite a lonely creature). I wished I had an apple for him. I think I’ll start carrying horse-friendly foods on my person at all times just in case.

Lastly, we stopped by a developing school in an extremely rural area. We had to offroad to get there. It reminded me of Indiana Jones. We bounced along, furiously at times, speeding up and slowing down abruptly and dodging stubborn cows. When we got there we were introduced to a group of community members working on building the school. There were small classrooms with a roof and walls, but two of the classrooms only had a roof and one wall that separated them from each other. Most of the team was made up of women. “En esta comunidad las mujeres trabajan!” one of the mothers announced proudly. Which means, “The women work in this community!” That’s pretty punk rock (meaning pretty cool, awesome or groovy). Don’t you think?

Finally, we made it to Luis Garcia at around noon. For the next few hours, I conducted interviews about the changes our school has made in the community, Jorge rebuilt damaged parts of the fence and Professor Selby played in the sewage with the kids. In other words, she helped them get rid of the standing water behind the school that could be damaging to its foundation. At around 3:30 we started to pack up to go back to the hotel.

After three hours of doing interviews I was pretty beat but I got an unexpected surprise that gave me an extra burst of energy. I was walking through the playground when I looked up and saw someone familiar. It was Katie! She ran towards me, her little blond curls bouncing around happily. “Mi amiga!” she exclaimed and gave me a huge hug. Could she be any cuter? Finally, Team Island was here. The gang is altogether. Next stop: school dedication tomorrow evening. Stay tuned…

So I suppose this perpetuates the blog war between Team Island and Team Mainland. So what say you Team Island?